


Tuesday & Thursday

by CaptainErica



Series: Studying Defeats You Eventually [3]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Calling Cards, F/M, old family magic, transfiguration and charms
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-02
Updated: 2019-02-02
Packaged: 2019-10-21 00:37:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,852
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17632784
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaptainErica/pseuds/CaptainErica
Summary: Hermione gets a bit of a hint, and then feels supremely pleased with herself when she figures the mystery out: now she can go back to studying in peace.





	Tuesday & Thursday

Tuesday was a very good day for Transfiguration review.

Not only was it a double Transfiguration day, but it was a Charms day; and Hermione always found those two classes to be similar enough that studying for the harder of the two at the beginning of the week always made her feel more prepared for studying the other on Thursday.

What was great about Transfiguration study, really, was the magical theory study that went along with it. She loved that, found the whole thing very interesting, and so it was always a delight to study; she often found herself going down many different avenues, chasing different things and learning new things.

Hermione finds herself in the library with the books on Transfiguration that she had been using to try and prove that her bookmark had been a clever piece of Transfiguration work and not some special charm. It didn’t make sense, she had reasoned with herself after 2 hours of ineffectual searching through the charms texts she had chosen; why would there be a specific charm for making delicately designed bookmarks? It was insane to believe there was one (or was it insane of her not to… but then Gamp’s Laws…), and so transfiguration made the most sense (except still…). But she was getting nowhere on this and she quite honestly new that.

The library is quiet around her, and she wonders if maybe she will have to ask Malfoy directly how it was done, but it’s been almost a week; what a silly thing to obsess over for so long.

Except it wasn’t _silly._ It was a gift from _Draco Malfoy_ , and potentially some very advanced magic so she of course _had_ to look into it. The fact that it has taken her so long is really the sticking point, but she could push through that, she had other things to study and review and research.

Hermione tilts her head back, eyes closed, and then roughly pulls her hair up into a messy bun. “Alright, down to business.” She mutters to herself.

There’s a soft scoff somewhere near her, then the sound of a chair tilting forward so the feet hit the floor (not too hard). “As if you haven’t been furiously studying for the past hour, Granger.” Malfoy says from just off to her side.

She turns and there he is, of course, school cloak draped over the chair closest him, books stacked to one side, clean parchment on the table before him, ink, quill… and his school robes looked rather (don’t think about it, he likely gets them tailored even further than what Madam Malkins does normally). “Doesn’t mean I don’t need to focus more.” She says, and there’s a blush riding high on her cheeks, but that’s normal for her in these types of situations; caught out for talking to herself, being reminded that she studies almost ceaselessly…

“Maybe, what are you studying, Transfiguration? I thought the homework was easy…” He says, sounding bored. Apparently he wants a conversation, which is something he hasn’t wanted for the past, oh, since September.

Not that they had ever had conversations before this year, but still; why _now?_

“I’ve already finished the homework, it’s just some revision and further study. Actually,” she says, turning more fully toward him, eyes calculating, and it’s clear she’s thinking. “I have a question, about transfiguration.” She says, and the bookmark is trying to catch her eye from where it’s hiding amongst her quills.

Malfoy sits up a little more, arms crossing over his chest like this is a challenge she is setting. He has an eyebrow raised, but it doesn’t hide the fact that his normally pinched, acerbic face has a softer feeling to it right now; like he’s truly interested. “Something the mighty Granger doesn’t know?” He asks, and if Hermione wasn’t so annoyed by him calling her that she’d be surprised that he’s possibly teasing.

“Honestly.” She says with a roll of her eyes, and his lips turn up in the slightest of smiles but she ignores it. “One of the principle exceptions to Gamp’s Law, is that you can’t make base metals out of nothing: it’s why the Philosopher’s Stone is such a big deal; or well, part of the reason.” She concedes, and he inclines his head, still smiling, possibly amused. “In any case, because of that how could…” But she trails off, because maybe the bookmark isn’t _actually_ silver, maybe it just _looks_ like silver.

She turns back to the table, hand reaching for the bookmark, and she misses how Draco sits up a little more, his eyes intent on her hand even though he still seems relaxed and unbothered.

It felt cool in her hands after sitting on the table by itself; just like metal should. But was it _silver_. “do you know how to test if something is actually one of the base metals?” She asks, looking up, and Malfoy’s eyes jump to hers from where they’d been on her fingers holding the bookmark.

“Is that a rhetorical question, or do you need a real answer?” He asks, and she kind of appreciates that; him being honest that he doesn’t instantly understand what she’s thinking. It was refreshing.

“Honest question.” She says, turning her head to take in the books before her like the answer might leap out.

“I could just tell you.” He says after a short moment, and she looks back at him, confusion on her face. He nods toward her hand. “The bookmark. It’s not silver, but it still wasn’t transfigured.” He says, and Hermione opens her mouth to ask another question, but he shakes his head. “Oh no, that’s all the hand-outs I’m giving to the Head Girl, top of our class…” He says, and this is a tease if she’s ever heard one, but it’s still... it’s still very _Malfoy._

Hermione almost pouts, though, then sets her face into a determined look and nods. “I’ll figure it out myself, then.” She says, standing and slipping the bookmark into her pocket, flicking her wand with her other hand and making the books follow her back to the shelves.

Draco Malfoy watches Hermione leave, eyes a little hopeful, but mouth set in a smirk. She can feel the look on the back of her head, and she ignores it for now; she has work to do.

Thursday was normally for Charms.

Normally, Hermione would spend a couple of hours after dinner on her charms revision after having finished her charms work during her free period before lunch. Unfortunately for Hermione’s color-coded review book and her many reminders for where she should be by today in her review: she was still working on the bookmark.

It had to be a charm, Malfoy had practically said so, so now she had to figure out which one.

The problem, however, was that it wasn’t in any of the beginner level charms books, nor had she been able to find it in _‘Charms to Bemuse, Entice, and Stupefy’_ or even _‘Charms and Life: How to Impress and Thrive through Charmswork’_. She’ll admit that the last had been a stretch, but she had very little to go on except that it was a neat bit of magic, like a parlor trick, but what was the _purpose_? If she knew the _purpose_ then maybe she could find the book that had the information she needed.

Hermione glares down at the book before her for a moment, thoughts racing as she tries to put the pieces she knew together again. Neville had said, Malfoy had said…. What do they have in common?

Oh.

Both Neville and Malfoy were purebloods… likely related in some unfortunate way, but that was hardly the point. This meant that it was likely some very old bit of magic, maybe passed down through different families, or maybe…

She pulls the little bookmark out of her pocket, holding it up as she looks at it thoughtfully. Maybe it wasn’t actually a bookmark at all; it just so happened to be the right size to hold one’s page in a book. Maybe it was actually… she jumps up from her chair and hurries down one aisle, then another, then back up the first because she actually needs-

“Madam Pince! Could you tell me, is there a section on old family magic, or old families in general?” She asks, hopes that request makes sense.

The Librarian looks at her for a moment, clearly processing her rather insane request, and then nods. “This way.” She says, and Hermione hastens to follow, feeling the idea pushing at her, nudging her to work it out.

Pince leaves her at the head of an aisle, pointing out a section on magic designed specifically to aid families. “Not a lot of research, a pity.” She says before turning away, “There are many great spells that people might never otherwise learn about.”

Hermione watches her go for a moment, wondering on that, before she shakes her head and sets her sights on that section. She pulls down three books quickly, then takes her time deciding on the 4th, then heads back to her table. She ignores the fact that Malfoy and Blaise are now sitting two tables away, and sets the 4 books out on the table before her to see where she wants to start.

It can’t be a Malfoy-specific charm, she thinks as she opens the book on 18th century magic in ‘pureblood families’. If it _were_ then Neville’s aunt would have to have been a Malfoy, but she’s fairly certain that Malfoy’s father had also been an only child so it wouldn’t make sense…

She finds a few interesting leads, some directions she would like to continue pursuing some other time, but otherwise the first book is fairly useless. The second is much the same, and she pushes both off to the side.

Inside the 3rd book, she drags her finger down the table of contents, and then with a little sound of glee she flips carefully to page 253: Calling cards.

It was so, so… _obvious_ , she thinks, staring at the page before her, an old ink-drawn image of a fine object shaped like a crow staring up at her from the top of the page. Of course magical families would create calling cards of some sort; easily shows they’re magical in a world where that could be dangerous, but also shows off skill and personality. She reads the chapter twice, committing the information to memory, and then, feeling very pleased with herself, she snaps the book shut and packs up her things to leave.

With this mystery solved she could get back to studying in peace, she thinks as she pulls her bag up over her shoulder and moves to put the books away.

The not-quite-a-bookmark stays amongst her things as she leaves, and she uses it that night to save her place in a book when Ginny exclaims that it’s late and they should get to bed. She sets the book on her bedside table, and falls asleep.


End file.
